Changes In The Bell Jar

1068 Words5 Pages
A Change From One State or Condition to Another The American baseball player, Willie Stargell once said “Life is one big transition.” Great authors throughout the ages have written about life’s many transitions. In The Bell Jar, author Sylvia Plath writes about major transitions, through narrator Esther Greenwood. The book takes place in the early 1950’s and begins in New York City as Esther starts an internship with a magazine. She soon discovers, that she has loads to learn as a demure girl from a small town. After returning home, Esther slowly spirals downhill. After an attempted suicide, she is placed in an asylum where she becomes more out of control, until finally after one last suicide attempt she makes a full recovery. But not before many bumpy steps. These bumps throughout the novel are what cause Esther to suffer. In The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath uses the shedding of blood is used as a motif for a major life changes. Most people consider blood to be a scary thing, in The Bell Jar Esther Greenwood seems to fall in love with the sight of it and Author Sylvia Plath uses to show how Esther develops. The first time blood is seen in the book is after Esther is set up with a man, Marco, who she immediately identifies as a “woman hater’’. After a…show more content…
It may be the seasons, someone's appearance, or simply the time. In The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath illustrates life's transitions with the use of blood. From unharmed to beaten, happy to depressed, intact to scathed, virgin to woman and finally suicidal to life-giving symbolizing them all with blood shed. When blood is used something has happened. As it is essentially what makes us live it can also be used for a symbol for what brings us down. Social reformer Frederick Douglass once said, “If there is no struggle, there is no progress,” and we must keep this in mind as we go through our life’s transitions, whether they are as severe as Esther Greenwood’s or something simple, like a new hair

More about Changes In The Bell Jar

Open Document